


What It Takes To Survive

by Languid_Victorian_Poetess



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Almost everyone dies, Angst and Tragedy, Betrayal, Dialogue Heavy, Dungeons & Dragons Campaign, F/M, Heavy Angst, Murder, Original Fiction, Suicide Attempt, Survival Horror, because otherwise i'd have to kill off 30 people and it would take forever, i'm not going to go into this but this is not the full au, so essentially it's a murder castle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 10:00:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27848978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Languid_Victorian_Poetess/pseuds/Languid_Victorian_Poetess
Summary: A charming vacation on a lake front turns into a battle for survival when one of their friends starts picking them off one by one. The question for Jezabel Blackwood is what she's willing to do and who she's willing to sacrifice to ensure her survival. Based on a Halloween one shot.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	1. 8:19 pm

**Author's Note:**

> So this is based off of a Halloween one-shot I did with my players. I'm working on it slowly, I had finals, but I intend to finish this soon! I have the next chapter pretty much done already, it won't be ridiculously long, I think?
> 
> Quick backstory: everyone is invited to Dorian Gray's vacation home for a long weekend. It's a real house with a glass elevator up and down the mountainside (I'll hunt down the link again and post it for the next chapter I think). But anyway, the NPCs and players, all 30 of them, no I'm not kidding, were picked off one by one over the course of several hours. This is based on what happened, with a couple minor changes, and told from an NPC's POV.
> 
> Okay, I think that's it, please enjoy me obsessing over my own characters. Also, sorry for this chapter, it's essentially filler but I like giant group scenes filled with alcohol. Shoutout to the hidden name of my favorite group chat, extra credit to anyone that finds it.

“Shots!” yelled Morrison.

“Shots, shots, shots!” chanted Magda.

“And another bottle of wine,” added Dorian.

Jezabel rolled her eyes and snagged a few of the finer bottles from behind the bar  **_(_ ** tequila, vodka, and rum  **_)_ ** , pouring out three more rounds in quick succession. Further down the station, Theo was busy skewering a couple of olives for Leonora’s martini to go on the tray with Sebastian’s gin and tonic.

“How did,” Oliver began and sidled up to the bar, sliding into a seat across from her with a wink. “A pretty dame like you end up serving drinks to a crew like this?”

Jezabel shrugged and began arranging the shots on the tray, hoping someone else would bring it over to the rowdy crew. It was highly unlikely. Maybe out of spite, she’d pour the drinks over someone’s head. Probably Morrison’s. “Why, you planning on hopping back here to help, Romeo?”

“ Is it e'en so? Then I defy you, stars!” Oliver replied with a flourish. “It’s from  _ Romeo and Juliet _ .”

“I should hope so, otherwise I picked the wrong tragic Shakespearean lead,” she answered.

“WHERE ARE THE SHOTS?” Morrison demanded from across the room.

“Morrison, yell at me one more fucking time for your fucking drink and I will pitch your dumb fucking ass off the fucking mountain.” Jezabel retorted.

“That’s not the next line,” Oliver sighed.

“Either carry the trays over to them, Oliver, or I’ll personally deliver you a death like Romeo’s.”

“You brought poison? To a vacation?”

“Do you want to find out?”

“...which tray should I bring over first?” 

Jez pushed the tray of tequila over and watched poor Theo fight his way through the crowd of their friends to where Leonora and Sebastian were playing a game of monopoly with Nellie and some of their younger friends.

“No, no, see, when you pass go, we  _ all  _ collect $200,” Leonora was saying.

“This is why you’re losing,” Adrian pointed out. Nellie accepted the money from her friend’s outstretched hand while Eliza shook her head.

“It’s called redistributing the wealth,” Leonora said and slapped a few more bills onto his side of the board.

“Puffy sleeves,” Isabel argued as she and Lucy approached the bar, “are out of style, I’m sorry.”

“I think they’re classic,” Lucy countered.

“A Malibu bay breeze and a Shirley temple,” Isabel ordered before turning back to her friend. “They’re not classic, they’re ancient!”

“Theo, get me a Shirley temple,” Jez called, as the younger boy ducked back around the bar. He let out a little squeak and got moving, almost dropping a bottle in the process. Poor kid.

“Jez, love,” Isabel continued in her posh, upper-crust accent that made Jezabel wince. “Be a dear and weigh in.”

“Everything's better with a leather jacket,” she replied.

Isabel looked physically ill while Lucy smiled politely. “You’re joking, of course,” Isabel said.

“Not on your life,” Jez answered. Thankfully, they resumed their debate without her over puffy sleeves before moving on to something about A-line skirts. Jez pushed Malibu bay breeze across the bar while Theo served up the Shirley temple. How in the world had they gotten roped into this?

“Bartender,” said the one person in the entire room guaranteed to make her smile. “Mind startin’ me a tab?”

Jezabel turned to the blond who had come to fill Isabel and Lucy’s vacated spot. He was leaning casually against the fine wood, blonde fringe over his pretty green eyes, all scruff and wild edges. His casual attire of jeans, a t-shirt, and jacket almost made her feel like this was a real bar. His grin was wide and infectious and she found herself grinning back almost immediately at her dork of a boyfriend.

“And what will you be drinking there, handsome?” She gestured to the backbar. “The world is your oyster.”

“Single malt scotch,” Leo replied and drummed his metal fingers on the wood.

“You don’t even drink scotch,” Jez rolled her eyes, but grabbed the bottle anyway.

“But ya do.”

“You’re such a cheesy dork,” she said, even as a light blush heated her cheeks.

“That’s what ya love ‘bout me.” He unscrewed the cap, leaned across the bar and stole a glass from the rack. When he poured a shot, only to slide it back to her across the counter, she could have melted.

“Maybe I’m faking it,” she teased and tossed back the drink.

“Awww, c’mon, Jez,” he said, but he was laughing.

“SHOTS!” The demand rose back up from the crew playing another round of strip poker. Jez groaned.

“Need a break?” His smile had slipped and instead, he was all soft eyes and fingers interlacing with her own.

“Only if you want this weekend to be uninterrupted by homicide.”

“Time for ‘n adventure?”

“Isn’t it always?”

“Point taken.”

“How about the lake, I bet no one’s down there.”

“What ‘bout the storm?”

“Oh, we’ll be fine, it’s not supposed to blow in til tomorrow.”

“Jez!” Magda called. “Is there sake?”

“Get off your ass and find out,” Jezabel yelled back. She scooped up the bottle of scotch and grabbed another of whiskey for them to share before leaping over the bar.

“That’s quite unsanitary,” Isabel commented and Jez flipped her off, which earned her a smile from Leo.

“I’m going on break, figure out your own fucking drinks,” she announced and practically dragged Leo to the door.

“No last call?” Morrison scoffed.

“Alright,” Jez said with a smirk and paused at their table, which unluckily happened to be near the exit. “What do you want?”

“This should be good,” Nellie said quietly.

“A frozen margarita, and maybe a bottle of red.” The air of utter snob was punctuated by his upturned nose, made worse by his ridiculous order. Of course, of all people, Morrison would order a frozen  _ fucking  _ margarita. Like there was just a blender lying around. Nasir, Morrison’s husband, looked like he wanted to add a please or thank you and quickly shut his mouth with a glare from Jez. Which proved to be ideal as she spied a glass of red wine sitting beside Dorian. 

She casually made her way over to their host. “May I?” She asked, fingers already closing around the spine.

“For someone as lovely as you? Of course,” the beautiful man’s smile was fiendish, like he knew where she was going with this.

“Well?” Morrison said. Jezabel spun and splashed the wine in his face  **_(_ ** the fact that he was only wearing his bathing suit didn’t make it too great a loss.  **_)_ **

“ _ Nenorocitule _ ,” Leonora muttered in Romanian which made Charani giggle beside her.

“Y-you!” Morrison stuttered. 

“Run!” Leo said and grabbed her hand as they raced out the door. The cheers and laughter of their friends followed them out.


	2. 9:03 pm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An evening boat ride takes a sudden turn that changes the vacation from a fun getaway into a murder mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! So is this fic, it's just slow going, but I'm posting this chapter because it's been done for a while. I'm absolutely determined to finish it because I have several other projects I need to get to. 
> 
> Apologies for this one part with the boat that is probably unrealistic, I do not know how boats work and despite several hours of research, it was not illuminating. Also, I really did not want the government breaking into my house because of my search history.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, I was yearning as I'm sure you can all tell.

Breathless, they collapsed with laughter in the boathouse. He had a casual arm draped across her shoulder as they stumbled inside and toppled to the floor in a heap of limbs. That only sent them into another fit of giggles and their laughter intertwined to fill the space.

Somewhere beyond their sanctuary, low voices pierced the night, probably Caprice and Irie finally making their way across the grounds towards whatever private hideaway  **_(_ ** the cove  **_)_ ** they could find. As their laughter died away, so did the low tones of chatter and somewhere in the distance, the glass elevator whirred to life. The leaves rustled and the world went hauntingly quiet.

Something felt wrong, call it a gut feeling, a flash of dread as the world fell to near silence. In the brief and inane panic that seized her, Jezabel did the one thing guaranteed to make things okay again: she pressed her lips to Leo’s. He hummed in the back of his throat and kissed her back and when they’d broken apart, still in a jumble of limbs, things felt right. Things felt normal. She let the feeling pass.

“What was that for?” he said, but it was with this beautiful smile that could melt snow off of the highest mountains.

“That was for capturing my iconic moment on camera.” Jez shot back to him and watched his eyes soften under the low light of the boathouse. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and let her lips linger. “Now, how good are you at driving a boat?”

Leo chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. “Pretty decent.”

“There’s that boundless confidence,” Jez replied. They began to untangle themselves, and finally able to stand, they took a proper look around the boathouse. Canoes, kayaks, and oars waited on racks against the walls while a couple of speed boats and jetskis bobbed in the water a few feet away. The tarps had been left off to the side, probably from the day’s earlier water activities. The air was thick with the scent of wood and gasoline. Quietly, the water lapped against the docks and distantly, the glass elevator hummed. “Up for a midnight joyride?”

“ ‘Course. Where are we goin’?”

“Just out onto the lake, somewhere we can be alone.” She added the extra flourish of a wink and strode casually over to a sleek black boat.

“Do ya think we’ll be able to see the stars?”

“I hope so. I guess that depends on if the storm moves in early.” The keys weren’t in the boat and she found them on a peg on the wall instead. By the time she’d taken them down, Leo was waiting for her. Gallantly, he offered her a hand to help her into the boat, which she accepted with a roll of her eyes. 

Except he didn’t let go and only reeled her in, a little smile playing at his mouth. “ ‘nd if it does?”

“Then you’re lucky the only speed I know is  _ fast _ .” She stretched up on her toes to give him a quick peck on the lips, then busied herself with the controls. 

Leo slid into the co-pilot seat and propped his feet up on the dash. “I shoulda brought m’ guitar.”

“What, were you going to try to woo me with a classic serenade?” she teased as she stuck the key in the ignition. The engine rumbled to life.

“ Yeah, ‘course. ‘M always tryin’ to woo ya.”

“Leo, we’re dating.”

“That’s the point.”

“God, you’re so fucking cheesy. And such a dork.” She cast him a glance and found that obnoxious smile on his mouth. “Don’t say it, I know you’re  _ my  _ dork.” 

She double checked that Leo had already untied the rope and eased the throttle forward. He was quiet as she maneuvered them out onto the water, wind whipping both of their hair. The sky was overcast, no crackles of thunder or bolts of lightning yet. Occasionally, a star would wink through the haze of clouds, a bright disturbance on the cool surface of the lake. Behind them, Dorian’s mansion was lit up like its own city, burning with light and dancing with the shadows of their friends up on the mountain. The noise couldn’t reach them and as Jez lowered their speed, the engine quieted and set the world almost at peace. She let them float adrift in the center of the lake and watched the ripples spread and upset the crystalline surface. 

Jezabel took a moment to survey the lake, the waving trees, the half-hidden cove, the lights of the house, the darkened cabins, the pre-storm skies. She could smell the rain on the air, mingled with the fresh pine of the woods. There was something serene about the moment.

She turned back to Leo, only to find him staring at her. “And what are you looking at?”

“The brightest thin’ in m’ life.” His eyes were so soft, an endless expanse of summer grass, paired with a smile like sunshine. The wind tousled his blonde hair and he looked like some perfect boy from a terrible summer romance movie. 

Jez groaned. “You’re doing it again.”

“Ya secretly love it.”

“Do I?”

“Ah!” He pressed a hand to his chest and threw her a mock hurt look. “How ya wound me, Jez!”

“Overdramatic dork,” she huffed and grabbed his hand to tug him to the waiting back seat. He obliged her with another of his smiles that would make a lesser person weak at the knees. 

The seats, though they really resembled more of a booth looping around the back of the boat, were cramped. The couple made it work nonetheless, with plenty of shifting, hand swatting, and “oh, watch the hair!” Eventually, they were settled, Leo seated horizontally across the cushions with Jez half in his lap, her short legs hanging over the side of the booth. His arm was slung across her shoulders while his prosthetic hand was intertwined with her fingers.

“God, your hand is cold,” Jez said. She enclosed the prosthetic in her hands and brought it to her lips, blowing a few times to warm it. Their eyes met, an undefinable gentleness in his, a little “O” of surprise, but the good kind, on his mouth. Then they were kissing and she forgot all about her task. She could feel his heart beat fiercely as his kiss lingered softly. The alcohol they had shared offered the shadow of a burn as her tongue swiped across his bottom lip and the moment grew heated.

They stopped to breathe, foreheads touching, and Jez let her hand flounder for her nearby bag, barely managing to grab hold of one of the bottles she’d snagged on their way out the door. “So, was there a specific reason for that or? Not that I’m complaining,” Jez murmured.

“Just that I love ya, across the universe and back.” His eyes darted towards their hands, hers still warming the metal of his. It made her smile.

“I love you too, across the universe and back.” She leaned back and despite the awkward angle  **_(_ ** seriously couldn’t Dorian afford bigger seats?  **_)_ ** , rested her head against his shoulder. Leo gave her shoulders a squeeze and began to hum, the song almost more familiar to her than her own name.

“Would you sing it, for me?” Jez asked.

Leo didn’t answer, but his melodic voice filled the air and she could almost hear his trusty guitar strum along, though the instrument was back at the house. “Hey Jude, don’t make you cry. Take a sad song and make it better.”

“That’s my favorite, you know.”

“Really? I thought ya’d like Blackbird, ‘cause that’s ya’re nickname.”

“I do, but I don’t know. There’s something about the way you sing it.” Something like a laugh came out of her mouth. “I know this is sacrilege to you, but even the Beatles can’t sing it half as well as you do.” Her eyes darted up to his face and there was a maddening grin lingering on his lips. “I’d say don’t let that go to your head, but I think it might be too late for that.”

“Are ya sayin’ I have a big head?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” He opened his mouth to reply and Jezabel leaned in to kiss him again. Lightning flashed in the distance, the bolt illuminating the distant woods ominously. Jezabel sighed. “Damn. I was under some delusion we’d actually have time alone.”

“Hm?” Leo replied, his lips just bare inches away. She offered him a quick peck then reluctantly untangled herself.

“I saw lightning, we’ll have to head in. Unless you’d like to find out if I really am invincible?” She waggled her brows and drew out a laugh from her boyfriend.

“Ya mean ya’ve been lyin’ to me this whole time?” He teased and followed her to the front of the boat. 

“It’s not a lie! It has yet to be proven that I can be killed.”

“Oh yeah? But I think ya can be defeated!” And then he pounced on her, tickling her in the side that nearly caused a shriek to emit from her mouth.

“Leo!” She yelled and batted at his hands before succumbing to laughter. “The… lightning.” She managed. He didn’t relent. “I’m… going to get… you for this!”

“Ya gotta get out of it first.”

Jez launched a counter assault, poking at his sides until he was too busy laughing, giving her time to dance out of his reach. He leapt toward her with his longer reach, and in her scramble to avoid him, she slipped on the slick floor and tumbled to the ground, smacking her head on the control panel. “Ow!”

“Oh, God, Jez, are ya okay? I swear, it was an accident-”

“Quiet.” Jez said and sat up, rubbing the back of her head. Something was off and her gut feeling had returned in full force. If she could just put her finger on it...

“Are ya okay? Are ya mad, I didn-”

“No, Leo, seriously quiet for a second.” He sobered, seeing her expression, and let the silence stew. It clicked into place what had set her off so suddenly. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“The ticking.”

“Tickin’?”

“Yeah. Ticking.” She pulled out the spare knife she kept in her boot and crouched beside the panel beside the steering wheel. “I’m fine, by the way,” she phrased it like an off-hand remark, too busy prying open the panel’s latch to get a look at the boat’s guts. 

“Do ya know what ya’re doin’?”

“Sure,” she spared him a quick grin, though it felt false on her lips. “You’re the one who taught me how to hotwire cars, this can’t be  _ that  _ different. Besides, I tune up my bike all the time, how hard can it be?”

Leo groaned with good humor and the panel popped open. It was too dark to see more than a jumble of wires, though the ticking was definitely louder. “Jude, you got a flashlight over there?” Jez asked, without turning around.

There was some shuffling behind her, the gentle  _ thunk  _ of some cushions hitting the boat’s bottom, then a tap on her shoulder with a procured flashlight. “Just ‘cause I’m a mechanic doesn’t mean I always carry ‘round a flashlight, ya know.”

“That’s exactly what that means,” Jez answered and accepted the tool. She clicked it on and set her knife between her teeth while she carefully shifted some of the wires. It only took about a minute to find what she was looking for. There, nested in a bundle out of immediate view rested a clock face ticking down, though she couldn’t see what it was connected to. Maybe that bundle in the back was a bomb? C4? The poor lighting and foreign wiring made it impossible to tell.

Jez slowly retracted her hand and took hold of her knife, taking it out of her mouth. Her mouth still tasted like metal. Her heart thudded with each tick and it took all of her willpower to suppress the shudder that wanted to wrack her body. Her blood ran cold. She had to stay calm. It was that or die. “Leo, jump in the water and swim to the shore.”

He must have heard the lack of humor in her voice because he didn’t counter with a joke. “Jez what-”

“Leo.” Their eyes met and she could see the moment her own reluctant fear dawned on him. There was no hesitation, no stripping off of his clothes. He climbed up onto the back of the boat and looked back, as though to wait. He didn’t have to say a word. The gesture terrified her, as sweet as it was. “I’m coming, I  _ promise _ . But you need to go,” Jez called to him.

“Be careful,” he said. “I love ya.” 

“I love you too.”

There was something in his green eyes, an echo of pain like he was anticipating a cruel ending. He slipped into the water with a splash and she could hear his strokes taking him to shore.

Jezabel took a steadying breath and stood, letting her thoughts settle as she slid the knife back into its sheath and tossed the flashlight to the back of the boat. The device appeared to be on a timer, well a clock face, maybe not a timer. Was it set to the throttle? The gas? An actual timer from the moment that the engine had started? How much time did she have?  _ Jesus fucking Christ, what a mess _ . 

She didn’t gun the engine, just nudged the throttle up, inch by inch. Each movement, every breath felt dangerous. One wrong move and... The boat picked up speed and she angled it towards the opposite shore. “Please don’t let me die to some cheesy ass explosives,” she muttered under her breath and counted the seconds in her head. When she reached ten, Jez hurried to the back of the boat, and climbed onto the slick surface behind the seats. The waves made her totter unsteadily and it took effort to keep her balance. She sucked in a breath, bent her knees, and jumped.

It wasn’t really a clean dive, jumping from a moving boat and all that. In fact, it was closer to a belly flop. The water punched her in the stomach and she grimaced, but didn’t bother to wait for her body to recover. Instead, she plowed forward in a passable breaststroke, counting the seconds, waiting for the inevitable explosion. The roar of the engine seemed loud in the quiet and it must have muffled Leo swimming to shore. She tried not to wonder how long she had and swam faster.

Jezabel felt the explosion before she heard it. There was a sudden warmth against her legs and back, then an assault of noise, the shriek of metal, the protest and release of energy. She didn’t turn around. A wave rippled out and carried her towards the shore as debris rained down into the water. The heat was terrifyingly intense, her ears ringing, her strokes weaker, and it was then that Jez realized she wasn’t swimming at all but sinking. 

She had no memory of something striking her, but perhaps she had blacked out momentarily, because the surface was out of sight. Her lungs were on fire, burning her from the inside out, and her limbs were impossibly heavy. Chunks of metal floated down around her and the consuming darkness made it nearly impossible to tell which way was up. _ I will not die here _ .  _ I will not die like this _ .

The hacker picked a direction and pulled herself forward with a weak stroke, the pressure of the water was unrelenting, and all she wanted was to succumb and breathe. Her eyelids grew heavy and she was floundering beneath the water, letting it drag her down. She wasn’t ready to give up, but her body was. Jezabel let her eyes shut.

Then there was a grip on her arm, a hand on her waist, pulling her up, up, up. Her lungs couldn’t take it anymore and she inhaled, even as she kicked, eyes still squeezed shut and then her head broke the surface and she was coughing and choking while someone pulled her close. “I’ve got ya, it’s okay, I’ve got ya. Jez, please tell me ya’re alright.”

She nodded as her lungs expelled the rest of the water, arms around Leo’s neck while he treaded water to keep them both afloat. She kept her eyes closed for a long moment, letting her head droop against his shoulder while her strength waned. He was holding her in a vice like grip, clutching her to his chest in desperation. The heat of the fire was still strong, even from several feet away. At some point, it had begun to rain, the cold water sliding down her cheeks, keeping her hair plastered to her face.

“I’m okay,” Jez finally croaked. She pulled back and opened her eyes, watching the intense relief flood Leo’s face in a tight smile. He dropped his forehead against hers and they shared a few breaths. “At least we’re even.”

“How’d ya figure that one?”

“Well, I saved you from being blown to bits, you saved me from drowning, we’re all tied up.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek, then turned to face the nearest shoreline, still quite the swim away. 

“Can ya make it?” He pushed some of her hair off of her face and his cold fingers cupped her cheek. Hints of fear still worried his mouth and stole the smile from his eyes. What had it been like, seeing her floating there under the water? Half dead and half drowned, not fighting any longer? 

“I’ll be fine. We need to get to shore and find the others. If our boat was rigged, that can’t spell anything good for the house.” She twisted in the water, scanning the rocky mountain outcroppings, but couldn’t catch a glimpse of the house’s lights burning on the mountain side. “Fuck.”

“Yeah.” Leo sighed. “I dunno when the lights went out.”

“Let’s get out of the water first, worry about finding our way back to the house later.” His hand still lingered against her cheek and Jezabel pressed a kiss to his palm. “Thank you, by the way.”

“ ‘Course, Jez. I told ya, I’ve got ya.” There was something he wasn’t saying, it burned in his worried gaze. Leo withdrew his hand and Jez removed her arms from around his neck.

“Let’s go. Up for a swim?”

“Are ya?”

She shoved away and took to the water in a few sloppy strokes. Her body ached, her head was pounding, but she set her eyes on the distant shore. The storm was still above them. The odds of being electrocuted by a lightning strike were mediocre at best. But still. They’d lingered for too long. She risked a glance back and saw Leo matching her, stroke for stroke. Just knowing he was behind her was enough to keep her going.

It was a long and grueling swim to shore. The rain lashed above them, the wind stirring up waves on the lake’s surface. Every flash of light, every crack of thunder made her tense, so certain this was the end and it wasn’t the explosion that would kill them, but her own reckless stupidity. The fire still burned behind them, devouring the metal and the gasoline of the boat. The rain was cold, the water lukewarm. Something like fear ate at her gut. 

They made it to the shore. Jez crawled up the rocky and muddy surface first, collapsing on her back when she finally reached the grass. God damn, her muscles burned. Leo flopped down beside her.

“Good… thing… we… left… our jackets… in the… house.” Jez huffed.

Leo let out a breathless chuckle. “Unlike… our… phones.”

“We’re… so… fucked.” It was supposed to be serious, but somehow it came out exasperated and sardonic. She pressed her cheek into the dirt to meet his eyes, then let their fingers intertwine and the moment soften. She gave his hand a squeeze. The sound of their labored breaths seemed impossibly loud in the drowning rain. He squeezed back. For a split second, everything felt like it might be okay.

Before either of them could speak, reality broke in. Distant voices pierced the rain and Jez looked up to see a small group of people hurrying towards them. With a sigh, she got to her feet, Leo rising with her, their hands still tangled together in something like solidarity. They’d survived this long.

“Jez!” The person in front called. “Leo!” They trudged through the rain and mud to meet the larger group just beyond the boathouse. As they drew closer, she realized that Nellie was the figure in front, Arabella and her wild and drenched mane a couple steps behind, and Blythe brought up the rear in her silver rain jacket with a bag slung over her shoulder. Nellie and Arabella looked soaked to the bone, Nellie’s light sweater hung limply on her shoulders while Arabella’s tank top stuck tight to her skin. Nellie must have been cold in her shorts, though she didn’t complain, not that Arabella could have been doing much better in her dark jeans.

“Hey Nellie,” Jez said and tried on her best smirk. “I hope you’re doing well our fucking boat blew up.” She gestured to the wreckage out on the lake. The fire had begun to die, though wisps of smoke still rose into the night.

“I can see that,” Nellie replied.

“Are you alright?” Blythe inquired and began digging through her bag. Jez wasn’t even surprised when she pulled out a first aid kid. A hazard of being an EMT that was friends with a bunch of idiots, she supposed.

“I’m-” Jez started.

“She got hit in the head by some shrapnel from the boat,” Leo answered for her.

“Traitor,” Jez sighed.

“At least you’re alive,” Arabella said with a shrug. 

“As opposed to being blown up by a boat or as opposed to something else happening?” Jez said. Blythe was at her side and beginning to fuss. While the hacker wanted to shake her off, one look at Leo’s knit brows was enough for her to let Blythe work.

“Both,” Nellie said evenly. “Thalia is dead.”

“Oh fucking fantastic. First our fucking boat blows up and now people are dead.” 

“I would like to point out,” Blythe interjected quietly. “That Thalia’s death might have been an accident. A branch got struck by lightning.”

“Whatever. The explosives on the boat? Not accidental,” Jez countered. “Honestly, I thought this vacation would end with an orgy, not a killing spree.” 

Arabella rolled her eyes and a hint of a smile sprang up on Nellie’s face, though she continued neutrally. “We should call Leonora and let her know you’re okay.”

“We still have power?” Leo asked. “I thought that was the first thin’ that murderers got rid of.”

“You’ve been watching too many horror movies.There’s no power,” Arabella said. “But the phone lines are fine.”

“Jez likes t’ watch ‘em.”

“Can I call Leonora?” Jez cut in. Blythe had taken hold of her arm and was wrapping a bandage around what must have been a nasty cut. She hadn’t even felt it. Now it stung.

“Why?” Nellie said, even as she fished her phone out of her pocket. “Won’t she think I’m dead?

“Probably,” Jez shrugged. “I’ll tell her you’re alive. Look, Nellie, I need something that doesn’t make me feel like I should have blown up in the lake. Plus, this might be the last time I talk to her. On a less miserable note, it could be the only entertainment any of us get all night.”

Blythe had moved to the back of her head, her fingers gentle and prodding as she spoke. “And after we call Leonora?”

“We try to find Irie,” Nellie replied. “Do you know where she is?”

“She said somethin’ ‘bout a cove when we were in the elevator with Cap,” Leo offered.

Jez nodded in agreement. “I think I know where it is, she gave us directions in case of emergency because there’s no cell service out there. Though she gave explicit instructions not to be disturbed.”

“People are dying,” Arabella muttered darkly. “I think she can suck it up.”

“While we’re off topic,” Blythe interrupted smoothly. “Are we going to discuss who could be doing this?”

There was a moment of silence as they collectively stopped to think. Nellie was the first to pipe up. “Well, it’s not one of the Local Dumbasses. We’re not smart enough to pull this off.”

“Is that your group chat with Magda, Leonora, and Morrison?” Arabella asked with an amused shake of her head.

Nellie nodded.

“She has a point,” Blythe agreed. “And I trust all of you.”  _ Foolish _ , Jez thought, but didn’t voice her opinion on the matter aloud.

“I dunno, I don’t think anyone is capable of this. I mean, those are our  _ friends _ .” Leo argued. He shifted foot to foot and his fingers tapped irregularly against his leg.

“Let’s call Leonora first, find Irie and Cap, then argue about this later,” Jez said. 

“You don’t care who’s coming to kill us?” Arabella snorted. “Shouldn’t this mystery be our first priority?”

“I care about surviving. Fuck whoever’s holding the gun or knife.” She reached a hand out to Nellie, who handed over her phone, already open to Leonora’s contact information. “Thanks.”

As Jez pressed the cell phone to her ear, Blythe used the opportunity to cut in front of her and apply a bandage to what must have been a scratch on her forehead. Someone picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Leonora, babe, I’m alive. Leo is alive too. Oh, and Nellie isn’t dead, I stole her phone, I just wanted to hear your voice.”

Leonora let out a choked laugh on the other end of the line. “Hi Jez. It’s good to hear from you! I’m glad that you’re alive, Sebastian isn’t.”

“Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have serious plans to finish this fic, real serious plans to do it. It's been months and I'm still working on it, but we won't be discussing that. Anyway, I will finish this particular project, then launch into my art trade for a good friend of mine.
> 
> Thanks for reading as always! More angst to come, I'm sure.


	3. 12:34 am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Leonora and Nellie debrief on the latest body count, Jez and Leo contemplate surviving the night ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe it has been like 2 months that I've been working on this but I swear I will finish it. It might kill me, but I sure will do it! It's the sheer determination. Anyway, I know I'm yelling into the void with this fic, but I admit it's self-indulgent murder.
> 
> Have another soft, but angsty scene and please enjoy!

“What’s up girl? You still alive?” Leonora’s voice blared through the phone’s speaker, the device in Nellie’s hand. Arabella and Blythe crowded around, Blythe’s tears mingling with the rain. Her husband had died. But then again, so had a lot of people.

“We’re still alive…” Nellie responded. She continued on, but Jezabel had stopped listening. She had heard enough of the night’s phone calls. They’d report who was dead and who wasn’t. Someone would cry. There would only be more grief and mournful echoes. They’d list their accusations and suspicions and wonder who would do this and why. The world would go on turning. The sky would keep pouring rain. She honestly couldn’t listen to another broken conversation.

Instead, Jezabel ducked beneath a nearby pine tree, the closest thing to a dry spot. The water rolled off the pine needles and fell softly to the grass. The storm blew and blustered on. The surrounding trees of the forest rustled with the wind and creaked above the thunder. The voices of her friends faded into the background, though they were only standing a few feet away. She closed her eyes and leaned against the bark.

There were soft footsteps, barely detectable. Leo’s voice was gentle. “Jez?”

“Hey, Jude.” She opened an eye and tried to summon a grin that didn’t fit. “I was just trying to get out of the rain. Not that our dip in the lake did much good.”

“Yeah.” Leo didn’t smile back and drew closer. He slid an arm around her shoulders and they ended in an embrace. Her cheek was pressed against his damp shirt. The rain dripped off of the pine needles. A few feet away, Leonora was apologizing as she relayed the news of Eliza’s death. Leo clung to her tightly and all of the things they hadn’t been saying, everything that she had locked away since the rigged boat in the lake bubbled to the surface. Dimly, she wondered if he was crying or if that was just the rain.

“Are you okay?” Jez asked. She wrapped her arms around Leo’s waist while he pulled her closer. His desperation was palpable. His fear was physical. It felt engraved on her very bones.

“Honestly? I dunno. Are ya?” She didn’t have to see his face to know that he was thinking about what had happened to her family all those years ago. The home invasion. Her dead parents. Her dead siblings. She’d be lying if she said that the memories weren’t chasing her like the very real monster that was hunting them down. The real ones could be evaded, but the phantoms could only be locked away for so long. It took effort to shove them back now.

“I’m fine,” Jez replied evenly. It was the wrong word, but not entirely.  _ Fine _ . The better descriptor was cold and empty. Bare. She wasn’t caught up on the emotions, the dead friends, the blood she’d seen, the swirling memories, but the plan. The one that could get them out alive. She mentally ran through the steps for the thousandth time that evening.

  1. Find Irie and Caprice, dead or alive.
  2. Get back to the house and her gun. **_(_** So much for that shooting competition they were supposed to have. **_)_**
  3. Stay in a group, if possible. 
  4. Go to the garage and see if there was a vehicle either not lined with explosives or one they could disarm. 
  5. If the garage didn’t have one, check the boathouse.
  6. Worst case scenario, take to the road with some flashlights and warm clothes. Get Leo and anyone else out alive.
  7. Get to the town or find a place to lay low long enough to get the hell out of dodge.
  8. Blah blah blah, play who dun it, and go on some revenge quest.



Okay, it wasn’t a  _ fantastic  _ plan, but it was better than nothing. And so far, no one else had a better one. “I’m just… thinking.”

“ ‘Bout what?”

“How we get out of here in one piece.” Her tone was flat, a hard contrast to Leo’s fingers stroking her wet hair. His touch, which should have been comforting, only hardened her resolve. Maybe she should feel something: terror, anger, grief. Anything. Anything but cold and cruel logic, the  _ let’s cut our losses and get out of here while we still can _ kind of calm. Fuck, maybe she was heartless, but maybe that was the trick to surviving.

The piercing sound of a ringtone cut through the sound of the rain, the pow-wow that Jez had assumed the others were having shattered. Leonora’s voice wasn’t muffled as she relayed Charani’s death and likely Lucy’s too. Leo’s hold on her tightened. It was the brink of choking, but she found she didn’t mind it. They were still alive. Nine people were dead. The night wasn’t over.

“Jez,” he began softly as the conversation carried on without them. Leonora was talking about a conference call to find out what had happened. They were going to get more people killed. Jez was just grateful that she and Leo weren’t the ones in danger. “Are… are ya scared?”

She pulled back to look at her boyfriend, though his gaze was aimed at the ground. His eyes were rimmed red and puffy, something like tears rolling down his cheeks. His foot jittered, sending miniature quakes over them both, like ripples in a pond.  **_(_ ** Trembling in the eye of the hurricane, clinging to one another like half-survivors.  **_)_ ** He looked so damn heartbreaking, so lost, so fucking scared holding her here in the midst of a wild storm with a murderer on the loose. Something within her broke. The feeling, the emotions, everything she’d been holding back assaulted her in a rush: the ache in her chest, the fear drilling into her stomach, the pounding in her head as she held back her grief for the dead. All of the dead. She inhaled to keep herself steady. “Are you?”

He hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck. “A little.”

“Look at me,” she said softly and reached up to cup his face between her palms. She swiped her thumbs across his cheeks to erase the tears.“I will protect you, Leonardo Monguel. I will always protect you.”

“I’ll protect ya too, Jez.” He answered, but it wasn’t the same and they both knew it.

“I know.” She tried on a smile and felt it give way to a frown almost immediately. “Look, Leo, I’ll get us out of here, okay? I mean it, whatever I have to do to keep you safe, I’ll do it. We’ll be alright, I promise.”

“Okay. I know ya will.” His forehead dropped down to hers and Jez pressed a slow kiss to his mouth. She could feel his worry and taste the salt against his lips. She dragged Leo closer to deepen the kiss and drive away every ounce of fear, even if only for a second. She coaxed some of his burden onto her own shoulders and it was all too easy to accept the weight. 

They broke apart, faces still close, her nose brushing his. He had stopped crying. “You won’t lose me,” Jez whispered. Arthur’s fate seemed to be hanging over their heads, the haunting loss of a dead lover. She pushed on. “We’ll be okay. And when this is all over, we’ll go visit your mom and then take another trip somewhere. We could go backpacking in Brazil? We haven’t done that yet.”

“We’ll have t’ call her this time, ya know.” He attempted a smile and it was watery, but a smile nonetheless. The spark hadn’t returned to his eyes, but she’d kindled something, maybe embers. “Or we could island hop in the Carribean like we always talked ‘bout?”

“You just want an excuse to use your pilot’s license.”

“Maybe.” And then they were both smiling and it was almost normal. She wanted to laugh, but it wouldn’t come out, so she kissed Leo again instead.

“We’ll get through this,” she said with far more confidence than she felt. 

“ ‘Course,” Leo replied and she saw the reflection of her own emotions twisted in green eyes and spiked with intensity. “We can get through anythin’.”

“No, Jez said we’ll lose signal in the cove. We’ll call you back right after,” Nellie said.

“You better,” Leonora answered. “Be careful and I love you.”

“Yeah, I love you too,” Nellie responded.

“Good luck,” Blythe added quietly.

“We should head over there,” Jez murmured and began to pull away.

“I love ya,” Leo said quickly and kissed the corner of her mouth before he let her go. “Across the universe and back.”

“Love you too, across the universe and back.” She rolled her shoulders and looked to where the small group of women stood, waiting in the rain. “Jude, if you can, stay behind me, okay? So I can keep you safe.”

“I will.” He promised. Then, they marched back into the rain to hunt down the fates of two more of their friends who were probably dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on the next chapter, hopefully there will be some sexy murder soon. Thanks for reading! If you ever want to come say hi, you can find me over at my [tumblr rp blog](https://intcashes.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Hope you all had the happiest of holidays!


	4. 1:28 am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the way to reunite with the larger group at the house, Jez and the others run into the mysterious murderer and one of their friends. An impossible choice must be made between survival and sacrifice, but will it be made for them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So, let's do the hard part first. I'll be updating the tags, but this chapter has graphic violence, some murder, and an almost-suicide moment. If that's an issue for you... don't read this.
> 
> Anyway, the good news is I finally finished this fic and will be adding the last chapter tomorrow (after making some brief edits). God, I'm so happy it's done after like... 2 months? This chapter was my favorite to write because of the Angst, I'm sure no one is that surprised about it. 
> 
> But yes, please enjoy and stay tuned for tomorrow's final chapter!

“There’s something in the glass elevator,” Blythe said quietly. They stood in a rough group at the bottom of the mountain, waiting for the elevator to take them back to the house where they could regroup with the others.

“What is it?” Irie asked. The way she began to usher the others back suggested that it didn’t actually matter who or what was inside. She was ready for a fight.

“It’s too far away to tell,” Nellie replied. “But it looks human.”

They huddled closer together and Jezabel used the spare moment to pull the knife from her boot. They were too exposed out here and apprehension gripped her tightly. Without a word, she stepped in front of Leo and raised her blade.

“Do we actually have a plan or are we just going to wait for the damn elevator and hope that whoever’s in there doesn’t want to kill us?” Irie growled.

“Well,” Arabella shot back. “Seeing as there’s seven of us and one of them, I think we can take whoever it is.”

“Or whatever it is,” Blythe whispered.

At the back, Caprice shifted uncomfortably, but didn’t offer any input.

“Do your best to stay behind me,” Jez reminded her boyfriend under her breath. The elevator whirred closer. Leo took her free hand, gave it a hard squeeze, then let go. Jez readjusted her grip on the knife. Collectively, they held their breath.

The dark glass passed under a ray of moonlight and it was impossible to tell if they had all really seen something unearthly or if it was nothing more than the anticipation and a poor view. In front, Arabella snatched Nellie’s hand, even as Nellie nudged her way forward to stand next to Irie. The rain still beat, but it was their ragged breaths that sounded loud rather than the storm. They were all waiting for a monster and praying it was an unexpected escort. The lights of the mansion burned in the distance, but it felt less like a comfort and more like countless scorching eyes.

And then it was close enough to see. The figure was certainly human, but it wasn’t until the elevator was practically upon the lit platform that they could make out any details. At first, the only thing visible was a sheaf of dark hair and pale skin, which only served to put them on edge. Arabella spared Jez a quick glance and the message in Arabella’s wide eyes made her blood run cold.  _ We’re the only ones alive with dark hair and light skin _ .

Then the creature? Person? Turned to face them. Arabella let out a low growl, Blythe gasped, and Leo’s metal fingers clicked incessantly against each other. Magda was staring back at them, her mouth slack, her skin flushed pink, a bloody knife in her hands. Her eyes were moving, but not seeing, almost like they were glazed over. When she saw them staring, her lips quivered into a half-smile that was somehow worse than her jaw limply hanging open. The scratches along her throat, probably where she’d fought to breathe, were a glaring reminder of their failure. Magda should have been alive. Or perhaps, the better turn of phrase was alive and standing beside them, rather than the vacant, yet horrifyingly blank  _ thing  _ that waited behind the glass.

There was a long moment of silence and stillness as they all struggled to process what they were seeing. The horror sunk in slowly, with each new detail amounting to a pressure of utter dread, a kind of building scream and panic. Could they fight this woman that had once been their friend? Or maybe the question was did they have the guts to fight this inhuman monster? The stupor of the question and fear drowned them, almost as much as the sight of this half-dead creature being brought closer with every passing moment. Yet they all seemed unable to take that first step to flee.

Irie was the first to react, arms out like wings, shoving them away as she slowly backed up. They reached the edge of the platform and began to descend the stairs to the grass. “Run,” she managed with a croak. It took another minute for the word to come out again in a yell. “Run!” But it was too late. The elevator door sprang open with a loud and positive chime. Magda lunged towards them with a blood curdling screech.

With unnatural speed, Magda rushed down the steps, slipped past Irie’s protection, and launched at Nellie. Nellie ducked and Magda’s bloody fingers brushed a few errant strands of her hair, but failed to grab hold. The dead creature landed stiffly in the grass and turned, still locked onto her target. But the other girl was ready and threw an elbow at the thing that had once been their friend. A blade went skittering from Magda’s hand, but she didn’t look ready to quit. 

Jez was prepared to intervene when a sudden scream exploded from behind her. It wasn’t Nellie and Jez whipped around to catch sight of a silver mask shove Blythe to the side and attack Caprice with a wicked blade. Jezabel let her body react and leapt past Leo. She raced across the slick grass to where Caprice and Blythe had tried to flee. Caprice suffered a blow to his arm as he raised it to block his face, standing in front of Blythe in order to give her time to escape. A thick line of blood bubbled over his tattoos. Caprice’s answering attempt at a punch was blocked by a forearm. He should have been stronger than the shorter masked person, but they didn’t even blink. Then, the figure prepared for another strike. Jez interjected, the metal of her blade ringing off of theirs as their weapons clashed. The eyes behind the mask were dark, the mask itself resembled one of Oliver’s Shakespearean samples.

Arabella roared and Jez risked a momentary glance, enough to see Irie and Arabella wrestling Magda back. The dead girl was thrashing, a new blade in her hand, barely restrained by the other women. “Go,” she growled to Caprice. “I’ve got this.” He obliged and hurried to help them. Jez turned her attention back to her fight and pulled back, blocking another quick attack from her opponent. 

“Get to the elevator!” Nellie called. There was a sudden grunt off to her right and Jez could only hope it was Magda being tossed aside thanks to Cap’s added strength. Mud sucked at shoes as the others scrambled for their only hope at escape. The masked person moved to strike another blow and Jez rushed forward to meet them. Their knives clashed and so did their eyes. There was a familiar air, something charged, and their identity seemed to linger on the tip of her tongue. Then they shifted their weight and the metal whined, her train of thought dissolving in the heat of the moment. Jez kicked out, her leg connecting hard with her opponent’s kneecap. They buckled forward, but didn’t fall and managed to parry her thrust aimed at their head.

“Blackwood!” Irie shouted. “Come on!”

Jezabel retreated a few steps, evading a swipe at her chest, keeping her eyes on the mask as her enemy regained their footing. She was prepared for another blow when a rock sailed over her shoulder and struck them in the chest. She threw her knife in harmony and watched it lodge in the mysterious figure’s shoulder.

“Jez!” It was Nellie who yelled this time. “Hurry!”

Another rock followed her lead and hit the stranger’s injured arm. Jez used the distraction to turn and run, spotting Leo with a third stone in hand a couple feet to her left. He let a final one fly before sprinting after her to the open elevator door where Caprice was cramming his way inside. Leo’s hand found hers as they flew up the steps, Jez beating Leo to the elevator in less than a breath. He placed a foot inside as the others struggled to make room. 

Their hands were still joined when something yanked him back. Magda’s face leered behind him and she pulled at his shoulder. Her eyes were cold and they glittered like she was toying with them. Her fingers dug into Leo’s shoulder and he yelped but didn’t let go of her hand. Jez let out a cry and held as tight as she could, her knuckles white, his arm strained. His wrist clasped hers and she echoed the movement in an attempt to hold him better.

“No! You can’t have him!” She braced her other hand against the frame and pulled and pulled but he wasn’t budging, he wasn’t moving, it wasn’t working. Jez heaved again and could have sworn Magda was laughing at them. If only she hadn't thrown her knife, if only she still had it tight in her grip she could have-

“We have to go, we have to go  _ right now _ .” Arabella hissed.

“No! Come on, Leo, just give me your arm. Leo, you can do it, come on, please!” She was begging and he was struggling, but it wasn’t enough. Magda didn’t appear the least bit affected, her hold only seemed to tighten as she wrenched Leo back with minimal effort.

“I can’t,” he said it so sadly, with tears in his eyes and it broke her heart.

“You can!” She gave another desperate tug. 

“We can’t save him,” Arabella growled and Jez just knew she was looking at Nellie who was clearly hesitating over the button. Caprice took hold of her other arm and added his considerable strength. It did nothing. “Nellie, we have to go.”

The door hissed and the chime sounded overhead. Magda gave a horrible smile and the elevator began to inch forward. “Nonononono,” Jez cried. Her hand slipped down Leo’s arm, fingers clasping but only for a second. He was barely hanging on. She nearly slipped back to the platform too, but Caprice managed to keep her grounded. “NO NO NO!” Magda gave one last little tug and then Jezabel had nothing left to hold.

The door was about half-closed and she went to lunge forward. If they wouldn’t go back for him, she would, but someone grabbed her around the waist and held her back and she had to watch as the heavy glass slid into place to separate them. From the blood soaking her shirt, she thought it might have been Caprice. She struggled nonetheless, thrashing desperately. “Let me go, let me go right now, I can still save him, you have to let me save him.” Whoever had forced her back released her and Jez collided with the glass door, now shut, first hitting it with balled fists, then attempting to hook her fingers around the edge to push it back and create an opening. “NO! Go back, we have to go back, I can still get to him! Please, Leo, Leo, LEO!” Her throat was raw, her ears were ringing, and tears burned her eyes but refused to fall.

His gentle green eyes were staring back at her. She could still see him, backlit on the platform, Magda with her dead gaze and lopsided grin aimed at the receding elevator. The silver masked mystery climbed the steps and handed something to Magda. It glinted and Jez felt her heart stop. Her knife. She let out a howl and threw all of her weight against the door which didn’t so much as budge. “NO YOU CAN’T, LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU BITCH, TAKE ME BACK, PLEASE TAKE ME BACK, LEO LEO LEO!” Her shoulder ached. She threw her body forward again. Magda raised the blade to his throat. She wished to trade places, but the universe wasn’t that kind.

The distance between them felt like a yawning canyon. Still, he held steady and his lips moved and she knew what he said. She would have known had he been miles or even light years away. She would have known because those were the words practically carved into her heart. “I love you, across the universe and back.” Leo said and she couldn’t hear it, but the thousands of other times he’d told her echoed in her ears until she could almost feel him murmur the words against her lips. Then Magda slit his throat.

She had to watch him bleed. He floundered for his throat, even as he fell to his knees. His hands were slick with blood. So was her shirt. Leo collapsed and the impact made her flinch. The glass remained unmarred by her desperate attempts to reach him. His gaze cradled her until the light left his eyes and he was staring into the empty air, his love for her still on his lips. Her knuckles left smears of blood as she beat the unrelenting barrier between them. Dimly, Jez realized she was still screaming, his name had transformed into an incoherent noise, mixed with half-suppressed sobs and tears that wouldn’t come. She kicked and hit at the door that did not give way. 

A noise rang out. At first she thought it might be cracking glass, but the world wasn’t so kind and the hacker caught sight of a gun in the hands of the person with the silver mask. A bullet was embedded inches from her face, but the elevator’s glass was too thick for it to puncture. “I’ll kill you,” Jez said or maybe she yelled it. Her ears were ringing too loud for her to tell. “I’ll fucking kill you.” As though they had heard her, they lowered their gun and watched the terrified group crawl away in their crystalline cage. Then the platform was no more than a speck of light in the distance, at the bottom of the mountain.

*******

They reached the house. The door to the elevator opened with a hiss, the chime singing over the quiet. Jezabel was the first to stumble out, eyes still blurry with tears she couldn’t shed, throat thick and choking her like hers had been cut instead of Leo’s. God, how badly she wanted to go back down there.

The others filed out behind her, Caprice laying a gentle hand against her shoulder that she shrugged off. Blythe gave her a half-hearted hug and Jez sank into it for barely a second. If anyone knew how she was feeling, it was Blythe whose own husband had been murdered a few hours earlier. Though more kindly, Blythe hadn’t been forced to witness it.

“Blackw-Jez.” Irie began and stared at the ground uncomfortably. “I’m-”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Jez snarled and felt Blythe’s arms fall away. “Don’t you fucking dare say it to me. You’re the last person who gets to talk right now because we found you in a cave making out with your fucking boyfriend while people were  _ dying _ . Are dying. He might be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Irie growled.

“Jez-” Nellie cut in softly.

“Fuck off.” Jez turned on her next. “We could have saved him if it wasn’t for you. You were the one that made me fucking leave him there! And now he’s dead, are you happy now?”

“Leave off, Jez,” Arabella said and stepped in front of Nellie protectively.

“Are you kidding me? If it was Eliza down there, you wouldn’t have left her behind. You both would have stepped off that elevator to save her, come hell or high water. But because he wasn’t important to you, you decided to leave him. So don’t fucking tell me to leave off, you fucking hypocrite!” She swiped angrily at the rain rolling down her cheeks and couldn’t tell if they were tears. “I’m sorry we couldn’t save Eliza, but we could have saved him. And you chose not to and for what? So we could all die in this fucking mansion?”

“That’s enough, Blackwood.” Irie snapped and reached for her. Jez didn’t even think, she shoved the taller woman with all her might and sent Irie reeling.

“I said, don’t you fucking dare.” She coiled her hands into fists and raised them, but didn’t strike out. “So much for Leonora’s ‘we don’t trade lives’ bullshit, huh? What, his life wasn’t worth yours?”

“No one said that,” Blythe said placatingly.

Nellie took a cautious step towards her, escaping Arabella’s guardian stance, mouth open to speak. Jez shoved her back too. It was hard to tell if the quiet girl had regrets about what had happened and while she looked sorry, that wasn’t good enough. That didn’t change the fact that they’d abandoned him on the platform to save their own damn skins.

“You didn’t have to.” Jez gestured to Arabella and Nellie. “Both of you showed it pretty damn clearly.”

“We all lost somebody,” Arabella argued.

“But there’s one difference. We could have saved Leo. And you all chose to leave him there. So don’t fucking preach to me about losing anyone. Because at the end of the day, you didn’t have to watch them die and there was  _ nothing  _ you could have done to change what happened. But you could have done something this time and you all chose not to. He died for all of you. I’ll be sure not to make the same fucking mistake.” She spun on her heel and stormed to the house. No one dared to stop her. 

“Do you think she means it?” Blythe asked, as Jez reached the front door.

“I don’t know.” Nellie answered. “I hope not.”

She wrenched open the door with a resounding bang. In the main seating area, Rowan and Markus shot to their feet while Isabel stepped out from a nearby doorway with an expensive vase raised high over her head.

“Jesus, Jez, could you try not to scare us to death? We’re already dying over here,” Oliver said and paired it with an uneasy grin.

“Are the others behind you?” Aiza grunted from the couch. Isabel lowered the vase, but kept it tucked under her arm. Oliver resumed his work bandaging Aiza’s bloody shoulder. The others glanced at her warily, but slowly lowered their guard when she didn’t move to attack them.

“What’s wrong?” questioned Markus and the words were another blow to her heart. She met the eyes of Leo’s best friend and thought maybe she was crying, but the others had probably mistaken it for the rain. It was hard to tell.

“Leo’s dead.” Jez reported and heard her voice crack.

“Oh, Jez, sweetie,” Isabel said and reached for her with a perfectly manicured hand. Across the room, Markus squeezed his eyes shut and stumbled back into a seat. She seemed to watch him absorb the wound in slow motion, feeling her words sink into his heart.  _ I should have died _ . Markus’s eyes open and shone with tears.

“Don’t,” Jez said. The others piled into the entryway behind her and rather than face the room of people with their pitying looks and grieving hearts, she turned and fled to the stairs. Markus caught up to her as she mounted the first step.

“Hey, Jez?” He said softly and she didn’t turn to face him, just gripped the bannister a little tighter. The din of a building discussion in the seating area crept in and bounced off of the expensive floor. The walls seemed to reverberate with their failed plans.

“Leo died because I couldn’t save him.” Jez told him, though Markus hadn’t asked. Had he followed her for the gory details? To have someone to grieve with? She didn’t risk looking at him, some part of her didn’t want to find out.

“He wouldn’t want you to blame yourself.”

“Yeah, well he didn’t want to die either.” Her knuckles were white against the polished wood. She held back another wave of tears and felt the pressure build behind her eyes and clog her throat. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t save him. He’d be happy to know you’re okay, he was worried about you.”

“He’d… he would have done anything for you.” Markus’s hand ghosted her shoulder and when she didn’t move, it fell against her heavily. She didn’t remember letting him get so close. “You were the-”

“Brightest thing in his life,” Jez finished. She offered him her profile, taking in his quiet tears and noble expression. He felt like her antithesis and a part of her craved the emotional release while another would be grateful to bury everything she was feeling into a box and never let it back out. “That doesn’t bring him back, Mark. That doesn’t mean I didn’t fail him when it mattered the most. I wasn’t strong enough, okay?”

Markus winced. Was it because she’d called him Mark, Leo’s favorite nickname for his best friend? Because he was failing to convince her? Because it hurt to think that Leo might have been saved if things had just been different. “Don’t say that. I know he didn’t see it like that. I-” Markus began.

“You weren’t there, okay? Look, Markus, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, I really do and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I let you down and I’m sorry that it’s me you’re talking to right now. I just… I can’t do this right now.” His hand fell as she took to the stairs again, but without her earlier haste.

“I’m glad one of you came back.” Markus replied. It burned and she could have sworn he’d accidentally marked her with a fresh scar.  _ Even if it was the wrong one? _ The words hovered and she swallowed them in order to reach the top step. 

“Be careful going up there alone,” he added. But he didn’t follow her or try to stop her and for that, Jezabel was grateful.

No one leapt out to strangle her with a curtain or impale her with a knife, so Jez made it to  their … her room without being murdered. It was silent. Leo’s jacket was slung over the back of a chair, his suitcase left open with his second favorite shirt sitting atop a small stack of clothes. His wallet was up here too, on the nightstand, the leather well-worn and creased. Jez eased it open, only to be met with his favorite pictures safely tucked behind plastic: an old photo of him and his dad, his mom looking proud at his high school graduation, a picture that Leonora had taken of them up on the roof in college stargazing. The tears didn’t come. Jez set the wallet back on the nightstand.

She crossed to her suitcase next, throwing some of the clothes onto the bed until she found what she was looking for: the gun. She freed it from the bag, feeling the weight rest in her hand. Her 9 millimeter seemed to stare back at her, taunting and beckoning all at once. It was nothing to load it, the smack of the cartridge against her palm felt almost relaxing. In the span of a shaky breath, Jez found herself standing before the mirror on the vanity, the gun pressed against her temple.

She wasn’t seeing her own reflection in the glass or the black of the gun. Its weight felt invisible in her hand, it felt like the hilt of the spare knife she kept in her boot. She blinked and could almost feel the rain on her head, the brutal fight in the storm. She released the knife and sent it spinning at the masked figure. Would things be different if she hadn’t used it at that moment? Her memory toyed with her, fast forwarded a few minutes so that she could see herself clinging to Leo with one hand, the knife in her other. She threw it in Magda’s face and watched the other woman collapse. She threw it in Magda’s face and watched the other woman use it to slit Leo’s throat then and there.

What if she hadn’t told Leo to stay behind her? Would he have dove in front to reach the elevator? Would he have had to watch her die instead? She would have preferred it. After all, who was she to live, the criminal? The broken one? He who had been sunshine and full of life and love. Leo who had deserved more than anything to see tomorrow. He had a mother to take care of. He had more friends than she could ever dream of. He had a world out there that would love him. And she had nothing. She was nothing. Her finger tightened on the trigger, but Jezabel didn’t pull it yet.

But it was her fault, wasn’t it? Leo was dead because she’d told him to stay behind her, because she wasn’t fast enough or strong enough, because when they’d gotten the invitation to come to the lake house, she had said “it sounds like fun” when she should have told him they’d go to the Carribean instead. Where he could have taken them from island to island to his heart’s content and she could wake up next to him every single day. Where he would be alive and they would be together. 

She let go of the trigger. Breathed in. Exhaled. Met her own eyes in the mirror and moved her finger back. Blinked and thought she saw Leo in the reflection, a rainbow of parts, his hand over the barrel. Asking her not to do this. He wouldn’t want her to die. Did she care?  _ No _ .

...Yes. The moment of his death replayed again, the cut throat, the blood, Magda’s hand on the knife, her knife, the silver of the mask in the storm. The silver of the mask. Jezabel lowered the gun and set it on the vanity. It stared at her and she stared back. She couldn’t save Leo and she couldn’t save her family. She had missed her opportunity to avenge her parents and brother and sister. But things were different here and now. Leo’s murderer, the real one and not whatever husk Magda was, was still out there. Hunting them down one by one. Leo wouldn’t approve of this course either. But Leo was dead. And she could do something about that. Maybe it was still suicidal, but at least this way there would be a fight, not a quiet bang in a haunted room. She could fight for this. She turned from the vanity.

Jez stripped off her wet clothes and put on a fresh set, tucking the gun into a holster at her side and adding her backup knife from her suitcase to her boot. It was still storming outside. Automatically, she lifted her leather jacket from the bed and had it halfway on when she paused and let it crumple to the floor. She lifted up his instead, feeling the old fabric and tracing the patches he’d worn into the elbows. It had been his father’s, and though she’d seen the pictures, Jez couldn’t help but think of it as belonging wholly to Leo. One inhale confirmed it, there was the scent of metal and something deep and earthy that she’d never quite been able to put her finger on. It was a wild scent, like the desert, and for the first time, it smelled dangerous.

His jacket was big on her, practically falling to her knees. She was drowning in it. With quiet efficiency, she rolled up the sleeves and pulled the jacket over her gun to keep the weapon out of the rain. The extra ammo she tucked into the oversized pockets and after a moment’s hesitation, she added his old wallet too. Was he really dead then? After all, here he was surrounding her still, embracing her. The brush of fabric might have been his caress and if she shut her eyes, it would be enough that she could envision herself in his arms. She tucked her hands in the pockets and felt the leather of his wallet, wondered how many times he’d done the exact same thing. Reminded herself that he would never do so again. The thought should have made her stagger with its weight. But Jez only took a breath and tucked it into the box at the back of her mind. She had a job to do.

Jezabel opened her eyes and double checked that the sleeves left her enough room that she was able to maneuver. She pulled her hair back into a sharp ponytail and met her reflection again in the mirror. She looked ridiculous, swimming in his oversized clothes with her sharp features and grim frown. She looked lost. When she squared her shoulders, she looked more angry and focused on that expression, let it overwhelm her. 

Loud footsteps pinged off of the stairs and the quiet murmur of voices drifted up. “...check for the body,” Nellie was saying. 

“I don’t like this,” came Arabella’s voice.

“...have to?” It sounded faintly like Kyer, but the rest of the conversation was lost as they walked away. 

When their voices had faded, she spoke to the empty air. “Leo, if you’re here to haunt me, try not to worry too much. I’ll avenge you or meet you on the other side of all of this.” His ghost did not reappear in the mirror and only the lashing rain answered. Had that been her imagination or wishful thinking? Or maybe he was here, just out of her reach, waiting somewhere that she couldn’t follow yet. Would he wait? Go to meet his family? Did it matter? It wouldn’t change what came next.

Jez took to the stairs and found the others in the library, just in time to discover that another body had gone missing and wasn’t likely to come back. Well, it was likely to come back… in an attempt to kill them. That was fine. She could strip away the silver mask’s little army until they had nothing left. In the end, maybe they would stand across the shore alone, prepared to paint the lake red with each other’s blood.  _ And may the best murderer win _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost done! I have another project for my friend that I will actually be starting tomorrow and hopefully posting in the near future. Fingers crossed that I get to keep the writing braincell for a little while. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, especially my self-indulgent murder fic!


	5. 3:52 am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the remaining survivors, Nellie, Blythe, Arabella, and Isabel attempt a daring escape, Jezabel marches into the final fight to settle this massacre once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, some quick trigger warnings, they're in the tags already but just in case: suicide mention, lots of violence, lots of explosions, etc.
> 
> But it's done! It's finally done! I've been working on this for so long and just tonight, it underwent like another couple of hours of strong editing. But yes, we're done, at the end of what feels like a long journey (at least for me). I know I'm writing this for self-indulgent reasons, but I do hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy the conclusion and some very Victorian sentences.

The mansion was on fire. The flames wavered and countered the storm, setting the mountaintop aglow. The orange light stretched its greedy fingers down and grazed the upturned faces of the few survivors standing outside of the boathouse. Arabella stole Nellie’s hand, held it so tight that they left ghostly impressions. Blythe was clutching her bag to her chest, nails digging the fabric. Isabel was trembling like a leaf, smearing mascara across her cheeks with every swipe of the back of her hand. Jez met the hateful gaze of the fire, crossed her arms over her chest, and tried not to remember Markus’s hug goodbye. 

_ Make it out of here for both of us, okay? _ Markus had said. The house had been going up in smoke. Irie and Caprice had blown themselves up to block the passageway to prevent as many of the “dead” from coming through as possible. Leonora had already called to say goodbye when she and her group had been overrun. Kyer had been the smart one, he’d hung himself in the dining room.  **_(_ ** The creak of the beams and strain on the rope had seemed so loud, maybe because she had considered doing the same thing only a few minutes before.  **_)_ **

_ I’ll try _ , Jez had replied.  _ But, I won’t let you and him die for nothing. That’s worth more than I am _ . That’s when he’d pulled her in, chin hooked over her shoulder, squeezing her tight, ending with a tight smile when they broke apart.

_ No, it’s not. You can be more than this. _

_ Sweet as ever Mark, but this is who I am and who I’ll always be. And that’s who you need. _ She’d ruffled his hair like Leo used to and he’d given her hand a lingering squeeze. And on the damned elevator ride down, she had to watch him die too. Him and Aiza and Oliver and Rowan and all of the rest. There were 25 people dead. 25  _ fucking  _ people.

Their moment of silence was over as quickly as it had begun. Arabella broke it first and threw open the doors of the boathouse. She led them all inside, muscles coiled and ready for a fight, but was met with no one. In fact, the boathouse looked almost no different than it had earlier that evening, save for the missing speedboat that had been blown up in the lake. The scent of wood and gasoline was vaguely disturbed by the veil of smoke and rain. The water continued to lap at the dock as though nothing had happened, as though nothing was different. In her memory, Jez heard Leo laugh, his favorite song on the tip of his tongue. Had it really only been a few hours ago that they’d snuck away? The realities seemed to intertwine and his fingers ghosted her neck, but it was only a bit of wind brushing loose hair against her skin.

“Jez,” Nellie interrupted her thoughts and she had to shake them loose. “Where was the bomb on your boat?”

“On ours it was under the dashboard panel, but check the motors too, if you can. Leonora said the cars were wired along the bottom, so look under the seats,” she responded.

“The elevator is still running,” Blythe said. She was standing in the doorway, gazing back up the mountain. There was something hollow in how she was trapped between the light and dark. “It’s going back up.”

“We don’t have much time. Split up, search what you can,” Arabella instructed.

Arabella and Nellie each took to one of the remaining speedboats, Blythe to the canoes, Isabel to the kayaks. Jez crossed to the jet skies, but in seconds it was abundantly clear that she didn’t know what she was doing. Her fingers fumbled along the machinery, and it was hard to blame it on the nerves. Still, she checked what she could. There was nothing under the seats and nothing out of the ordinary attached to the throttle. With all three vehicles already in the water, there wasn’t enough time to take a peek at the engines. And, if she was being honest, she didn’t know how to do it anyway.

“The canoes have holes in them,” Blythe reported. Her knuckles rapped against the wood, maybe for effect, maybe to have a place to leave her worry.

“Yes, the kayaks have some too,” Isabel added. Her ruined makeup ran like warpaint down her cheeks, but her hair had somehow remained in its perfect French braid. Maybe she’d taken the time to redo it while they were all searching.

“Looks like a bomb over here,” Arabella called. “One on Nellie’s too.”

“I can’t find anything,” Jez said and the others glanced her way. “Hey, hey, don’t look at me like that. That doesn’t mean they’re safe.”

“Do we have another choice?” Blythe asked. She nibbled the edge of her fingernail and cast the others a look that could only be described as desolation. Jez had never seen her sweet caramel eyes so lost and scared. Was she thinking about her daughter, what it would mean to make her baby girl an orphan? Or was she just grateful to know that her daughter was safe and warm far away from them and this moment?

“You could walk, take the road and hope you reach town,” Jez suggested.

Nellie shook her head. “They’ll catch up to us. I say we take the jet skies.”

“And what if they’re rigged?” Arabella pointed out, but the question didn’t sound serious. “We might be able to hide from them in the woods.”

“I disagree,” Blythe interjected. “We’re more likely to get lost and hurt by wandering around in the woods in the dark.”

“Both are bad odds. I think we have a better chance with the jet skies.” Nellie said. “What do you all think?”

“If you go, I go, that’s how it works,” Arabella replied.

“I say we take the risk and try the jet skies,” Blythe agreed. “And hope for the best.”

“Well, it sounds better than getting lost in the woods and dying of starvation or being jumped by those monsters,” Isabel sighed.

“Dorian said there were cabins on the other side of the lake. If we can make it that far, we can call for help,” Nellie mused.

“Or ‘borrow’ a car,” Arabella said with a snort. The group made their way to the jet skies, Blythe pausing to get the keys off of the peg. They divided up the keys and as Blythe went to hand one to Jez, the hacker only shook her head.

“Do you not want to drive or…” Blythe trailed off.

“No, it’s not that.” Jez stuffed her hands in her pockets and met Nellie’s eyes. The other girl nodded. She knew what was coming. “I have to stay.”

“...yeah,” Nellie said quietly. “I know.”

“You sure, Jez?” Arabella questioned, but she knew too. From their grim looks, swapped like a bad hand of cards, Jez thought maybe they all did.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.”

Blythe pulled her in first, arms tight around her shoulders, her bag pressed between them. “Thank you for being my friend.”

“You too, Blythe, you too.”

Then came Isabel, a half-hug and an awkward one, but there was something genuine in it. She smelled like lilacs and it was a little like hugging her mother, though the memory was faint and curled with age. “I’ll give you as much time as I can,” Jez told her.

“Oh, of that, I have no doubt,” Isabel answered. “I wish you the best of luck, Jezabel.”

“You too, Iz.”

Next came Arabella and they shook hands. Jez thought that Arabella understood the best. If not for Nellie, she would have probably made the same choice. It was different having something to live for. “Make that bastard pay, alright?” Arabella said.

“I’ll try.”

Finally, it was Nellie’s turn and she wrapped Jez in another hug. This one reminded her more of Markus, the years piled up between them and so did the adventures. Jez could feel her crying softly. It was hard to let go. “Give them hell, Jez,” Nellie smiled, but it was weak.

“I will. Good luck, all of you.” Jez offered them a small smile of her own and turned away as Isabel and Blythe mounted their jet skies. “Make it to the other side of this for me, will ya?”

“We’ll try.” Nellie said behind her. The engines roared to life as Jez was consumed by the darkness. 

The elevator had reached the platform when she emerged. Two figures stepped out, one in the silver mask, and the other was easily recognizable as Leonora. There was blood soaking her dress, her eyes lifeless as she shambled behind the masked mystery. She locked eyes with Jez, cold and lifeless, such a contrast to the burst of energy she’d been in life. Leonora’s lips curdled into a chilling smile. 

They had to step over Leo’s body and it almost made her flinch. Instead, she carved the crescents of her nails into her free hand and tried not to remember how he’d looked when she’d crouched beside him to close his eyes.  _ I love you _ , she’d whispered, but hadn’t been able to linger. Leaving him the second time was easier, but still left its scars. 

Both sides closed the space slowly, a march to fate or perhaps something more like the first steps of a duel, but without the drawn weapons. The jet ski engines whined in the distance and then roared in the unmistakable sound of an explosion. Jezabel couldn’t turn around and risk losing her advantage. She only took a breath that came out choked and desolate and alone. Nellie and Arabella and Isabel and Blythe. 29 dead. Her heart tried to shatter further, but the pieces were already ground to specks of dust. There was nothing more she could give up. But she had everything left to take from them.

“Jezzzz,” Leonora croaked. Her voice was a semblance of its former self. The ‘z’ came out a low buzz, something like the moan of a ghost. At least it wasn’t Leo who had come to haunt her.

There was no hesitation as Jez clicked off the safety and raised the gun, firing the shot in the span of a breath. It ripped through Leonora’s head and she crumpled to the ground. Before her body struck, Jez had her weapon pointed at the masked figure. They had done the same, twin barrels staring each other down, the echo of action and instinct. The mirrored reaction of a pair of killers.

“It’s just you and me now,” Jezabel said coldly. “Enough of the games, if you’re going to kill me, then look me in the eyes, you fucking coward. Take off the mask.”

“I suppose there’s no point in it now,” came the gravelly voice of a man. “Seeing as we’re the last ones left. The secret should die with one of you, at least.” He removed the mask with one hand, keeping his eyes trained on her, neither gun moving so much as an inch.  **_(_ ** Even her breaths felt dangerous, her hand might stray off target and that was not something she could risk.  **_)_ ** His dark hair was plastered to his face, eyes grey as the darkening skies had been, no cruelty on his face, just regret that danced in his drawn brows and across his tight mouth.

“Magnus,” Jez hissed. “Well, you should know that your little bombs just killed your own wife. I hope that hurts you bloody fucking bastard.”

“I couldn’t get to her in time,” he confirmed. His knuckles were white, his finger on the trigger. Rain or tears shined on his cheeks, ran in rivulets off of his tangled curls. His ruined soul was refracted back at her, but that could have just been the silver of his mask playing at the shadows of his face.

“And who’s fault is that?” It was a snarl, she was ready to fire and God how she wanted to. But there was hesitation too, call it morbid curiosity or maybe her loyalty was too ingrained to let her shoot without knowing why. “Do I even want to bother to ask why you did this or should I just kill you now?”

“You would have killed me already, if that’s what you wanted.” His tone was flat now as though he’d resigned himself. “I did it to save my family, my daughter. They were going to kill her unless I agreed to eradicate all of you.”

“They?”

“...my father.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Magnus. So you agreed to it? When you could have just come to us. We would have figured something out! We would have helped you.” Her voice edged up towards a scream and it took all of her self-control to speak evenly again. She couldn’t let the anger take over, it would blur her vision and ruin the shot. “What did you do to Leonora and the others?”

“I couldn’t do it alone and my father knew that. He gave me a special serum. It’s short term only, not even twelve hours. It restarts enough of the bodily functions to perform heavy activity and removes those that are unnecessary.” Breathing, probably, a heartbeat, a brain, everything that made them human. “They come back stronger and it makes them susceptible to suggestion.”

_ Would it work on Leo? _ The thought occurred abruptly and she wanted to open her mouth to ask, wanted to beg, and stopped. She remembered his fractal shape in the mirror, constructed of rainbows and light, holding his hand over her gun. She remembered his laugh and his green eyes and the way he would sing her to sleep when the nightmares got bad. This wouldn’t bring him back. Not really. Not in all of the ways that counted.

“I’m sorry, but I had to, my family-”

“Don’t you dare,” Jez said. The dead piece of her, the one that had died when they did, didn’t have to battle for control. She let the cold and empty slide over her as the fires raged at her back and in the distance and the storm dominated overhead. “You killed your… no, you killed  _ my  _ family to save yours. They would have done anything for you and you murdered them. I’m here to repay the favor.” She squeezed the trigger.

_ Bam!  _ Went the first shot. She’d hit his hand, the gun slipped from his grasp and toppled to the ground with his fingers. If he had fired one in return, she didn’t feel it. It was more likely he hadn’t had time to return the favor. “That’s for Leonora.”

_ Bam! _ Came the second shot, this one to his left kneecap so he fell prostrate before her. “That’s for Nellie.” She drew closer, colder, even as he let out a horrible scream of agony.

_ Bam! _ This one to the shoulder, unflinching as the sounds joined the chorus of the rain and the wind. “That’s for Irie and Caprice and everyone else you killed tonight.”

She was almost on him and as he feebly reached for the gun in the grass. She kicked it away with something like indifference. Then she placed her gun to his chest, not his heart where the blow might kill him, but his chest. Let him choke on his own blood.  _ Bam!  _ “That’s for Leo, you son of a bitch.”

Somewhere in the distant storm, a wolf howled. He was covered in blood, on his knees, choked breaths that were so loud in the rain. Jezabel pressed the gun to his temple. “This is for me.” She waited until he met her eyes and pulled the trigger.  _ Bam! _ Came the last shot. Magnus’s body slid to the ground. 

Jezabel remained with her head bowed in the storm, eyes closed to feel the rain against her skin, and that was all that was left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!!
> 
> I just spent some time plotting my next fic (again, it's very late for an art trade), so hopefully I'll have something new to put up soon. I'm aiming for 10 pages, but we'll see where it takes me.
> 
> Anyway, hope y'all are having a good start to your new year!


End file.
